Cabinet construction



c. s. O'NEIL 2,905,519

CABINET CONSTRUCTION Sept. 22, 1959 Filed Dec. 31, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVNTOR. 1 cz rzagaa/ w Sept. 1959 c. s. O'NEIL 2,905,519

' CABINET CONSTRUCTION IN V EN TOR.

Cizan ea 5. O BY yvw/aa-wkfmv C- S. O'NEIL CABINET CONSTRUCTION Sept. 22, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 31, 1956 Y BY 9W4, Mvm

66 INVENTOR Charles 5. U

Sept. 22, 1959 c. s. O'NEIL 2,905,519

CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 31, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Q N a;

1 E g N m w $1 Q\ i I I A\ b it 3 Q 0 i EEE INVENTOR Charles 5 owed United States Patent 6 CABINET CONSTRUCTION CharlesS. fi Neil; 'Irvo-Rivers, Wis., assignor toHamilton Manufacturing Company,.Two Rivers,1Wis., a corporation of wisconsin;

Application December 31, 1956, S'erialNo'. 631,897

4 Claims. (Cl. 312-350) This. invention relates.- to cabinet construction more particularly of the type of cabinet suitable for use in professional holds. The invention is. hereillustrated as embodied in cabinets specially: adapted forthe dental practitioner, exterior designs of which are disclosed' and claimed in ctr-pending applications by'lames. E. Floria; Serial No. D -42;572 nowPatent No. D'es. 1823111; and Serial: No:. D-42',57.3 now abandoned, each for Dental Cahihet','and Serial. No. 11-42574 nowlatent. No; jD'es; 180,3 98' for Drawer Handle, all fil'ed August l; 1956i The present ir'ivention' aims to provideimproved and simplified cabinet: construction, of the class" referredrto; that includes a unitary integral steel interi'or frame upon which wood or' other non=metallic exteriorparts may-"be hung, interlocking formationsbeingprovided on the' steel frame and on the non-metallic exterior parts, and the frame also supplyingrunwaysor tracks for the drawers of the cabinet; each cahinet' heing advantageously repdered mobile bycasters or the like so as tobe readily l'ocatediir position by the practitioner forread'y' acces sibility' and convenience: v

A-further object of the invention is to provide integral tabs bendable from the interior frame-for'carrying antifricti'on contact means; such 'asnylonbuttons, thatcooperate with the drawer part bothto locate the drawer in position and to serveas guides when the drawer isi pulled out and retracted, while at thesametime con tributihg tomarked reduction of friction and smooth and silent operation: of'thedrawers;

Another object of the invention is the-provision of a drawer runner constructionjthat cooperates with the forward nylon button on the horizontal drawer track tovary or adjust the: elevation of the: drawer with re' spectto its particular: track at. the'front of the. drawer, soas to regulate the spacings between the drawerspboth for efficiency. of operation and enhancement of appearance. I

' Another object is" the production of a cabinet provided with adjacent tiers of drawers by the securing of a plurality of integral steel frames together, eachjof prefabricated" construction.

These and" other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, taken together with the accompanyingdrawings, showing illustrative embodiments ofthe-invention, and. in which drawilngs Figure l' isr'a perspective view. of a dental cabinet or the like embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a' somewhat enlargedperspective view of v the interior integral" frame for. the. cabinet of Fig, 1;

Figure 3 is a further enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1', parts being broken away to save space, a. drawer jhei'ng omitted and an: other drawer partiallywithd'rawn; I Figure 4' is a still further enlarged fragmentary ver sectional view taken on the line 4.4 of Fig. 3; Figure 5 is ajfragment'ary plan 'section, on the. scale ofFi'g. 4, taken on'theline'5 5 of'Fi'g. 3;

Figure 6 is a. perspective view" of another" form of dental cabinet embodying the invention;

Fi ure 7 is anenlarged perspective view of the pair of integral unitary frames employed in; the constructibn of'the cabinet ofFig. 6; and

Fig. 8' is a fragmentary plan section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Referring in detail. to the illustrative construction shown in-the drawings, the. cabinet 10jis of the so-called di'ental type having the side or end panels 11' and 12; preferably of nonsmetallic material, drawers. 13 of a given depth and advantageously drawers 14' of another depth, with a base 15, by which may be mounted rollers or casters 16 by means of which the cabinet maybe easily moved from one location to another, handles 10a being usable for this purpose. A top or working surface 17 has an upwardly extending split continuation 18 that, servesas a cover for a medicine compartment and isprovided' with a handle 19: It will be noted that, in accordance with said design patent applications, sides 11 and12, are continued integrally upwardly as at 101; to provide. end members for the medicine compartment, these extensions 10!; also providing mountings for hinges as. later described,.for the medicine compartment cover 18. The drawers are provided with the handles 10c, the design. of which is in accordance with the patent application. thereon also referred. to above.

In. accordance with. the present invention, the visible parts of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1' are all supported on an integral. unitary metallic interior frame 20f, shown inFig. 2, and this frame. has four corner posts or uprights, two. of these 21 at the front of the cabinet and two 22. at, the. rear, each formed of, sheet, metal and of flanged channel-form cross-section. Each of the corner uprights 21, as best seenin Fig. 5, comprises the central laterally projecting channelrform formation 23 and: the side flanges 24. bent therefrom into a, common plane. at each side of. the. channel. formation 23. The corner uprights. 22. are similar but in addition have an angular, continuation 41. for a. purpose later describedi The corner uprights 21 and 22 are heldtogether. cross: wise. of the frame by similar channel. forming members 25 at the bottom of. the. frame,v intermediate channel formingmembers- 26., andtop channel forming members 27, 27a. From;- front to. rear theuprights 21. and. 22 are: connectedtogether by the.- drawer runways 2.6a. spaced in. horizontal pairs. at suitable=intervals vertically.- of the height of theframeto slidingly support the drawers as later described. All the frame parts referred to may be. secured together by suit-able spot welding.

Struck outfrom. the forward. flanges 24.0f the uprights 21- arelugs 24a bentto provide an inwardly offset. part 28 in which is secured ananti-friction button 29, such as desirably of nylon or the like. Struck out from: the side. wall of each. drawer runway. 26a is another lug 3.0 that carries arearwardly facing rubber button 31, and, in its. horizontal. track part 3.2,. the drawerv runway car: ries at. its outer end.an;upwardly"facing nylbnbuttonfili} best seeminFig, 5, eachside, suchaet-he side 11-, is desirably made up of a woodencore34+between lami: hated. plies. 3,5 of non-metallic material including, desirably. an exterior plastic ply 36. The side. 1-1,, .in accordance. with the; present invention, has. preformed therein a pair of vertical grooves 37 and 38-spacedfrom front to rear of the side, one adjacent each ofthe front edge andv rear edge. thereof. These grooves areconveniently. formed by routing after the panel is madeupbut before attachment tov frame 20: The grooves, may run through. tothe upper and lower edges of the side since they. are concealed in. any case. as will. hereappeart. The panel is hung on the frame. shownin Fig.2 by-hayingthe channel projections 23 of the channeled uprights 21 and 3 22 entered snugly into the grooves 37 and 38 respectively of the side 11. Screws 39, passing through screw apertures 39a in the channel flanges 24, enter the side 11 to fix the relative position of the side vertically with respect to the frame. It will be understood that the side 12 is similarly attached to the frame.

A laminated-ply back panel 40 (Figs. 3 and is provided that is secured to the angular continuations 41 of the back uprights 22 of the frame, screws 42 passing through the back panel and a suitable perforation in the flange continuation. The sides 11 and 12 are rabetted at their rear inner corners as at 43 to receive the back panel flush with the side. The back panel 40 extends upwardly above the main part of the sideas at 40a, as seen in Fig. 3, to provide a rear wall for the medicine compartment, just as the side extensions b provide end walls for this compartment.

As best seen in Fig. 3, a sub-top 44 is provided that is locked by clip 45 secured to the top by attachment screw 46 that engages the flange of transverse member 27, and latch 47 that enters a slot 48 in the rear face of upwardly extending channel projection 49 of the transverse member 27. At the rear, the screw 50 engages the flange of the transverse member 27a.

An exterior top and working surface 51 is raised at its forward margin 52 to prevent instruments and the like from rolling off of the surface and atits rear margin is curved upwardly as at 53 to merge into the surface line 54 of the medicine compartment cover 18. The surfaces 53 and 54 may be initially under heat and pressure formed as an integral piece, and then severed at the line 55 to separate them, the break 55 being margined on its lower side by the wood block 56 and on its upper side by the wood block 57, the latter carrying the securement means 58 for the handle 19. The blocks 56 and 57 may also be initially made integral, the separation 55 being provided by a saw cut which passes through both the initially integral block 56-S7 and the initially integral surfaces 53-54, this method being the subjectmatter of a separate patent application filed March 22, 1957 by Claude G. Kanzelberger, Serial No. 648,479.

The top 44 is downwardly recessed along its rear margin, and metallically lined as at 59 to receive the medicine bottle tray 59a that may be of glass or other easily cleanable material.

The medicine compartment cover 18 is hinged to the upward extension 40a of the rear panel 40 by hinges desirably of the so-called lazy-tongs type comprising a bell-crank lever 60 that is articulated at 61 with the bracket 62 secured as at 63 to the rear panel part 40a. The other end of the bell crank lever 60 is articulated as at 64 with a link 65 that is articulated as at 66 with a plate 67 secured to a filler piece 68 in the upper wall of the cover 18. Another link 70 is articulated at one end as at 71 with the link 72 .that is articulated at 73 with the bracket 62. At its. other end the link 70 is articulated as at 73:: with plate 67. The tension coil spring 74 anchored as at one end 75 to the bracket 62 and at its other end 76 to the pivot point 71 tends to yieldingly hold the cover 18 either in closed position or in open position, the ype of binge described moving the cover 18 away from and toward the back panel extension 40a without binding, and the bracket 62 being carried by the rear panel extension 40a and the side extension 1011, screws 77 passing through the bracket to the extension 1017, thus eliminating any hinge part in the central region of the cabinet. The bracket 62 desirably carries an abutment flange 78 that contacts the cover 18 when the latter is in closed position.

The drawers for the cabinet, some relatively shallow as indicated at 13 and others relatively deep as indicated at 14, as already referred to, are shown more in detail in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The body of the drawer is desirably of sheet metal having a bottom member 79 and side members 80, the latter being extended below the bottom member 79 and formed into a drawer runner 81 with attaching flange 82 that is secured as by welding to the under side of the drawer bottom member 79. The runners 81 are advantageously channel-shape or box-like in cross-section and the side walls thereof are, in accordance with the present invention, oppositely slit as at 83 to provide a bendable or distortable portion 84 of the drawer runner, provided by the closed slots 83, adjacent the front of the drawer, for a purpose presently more particularly described. For stiffening purposes the upper edge of the drawer side is shown rounded over as at 85. The drawer front 86 of laminated-ply non-metallic construction, to which the handle parts 100 are individually attached, completes the finish of the drawer in front.

It will be understood that the drawer sides are of different depth to suit the diiferent size drawers 13 and 14 respectively. At the rear of the drawer the rear wall (87 for the shallow drawers and 87a for the deeper drawers) defines the useable space of the drawer and rearwardly of this the drawer runners and sides are continued rearwardly as at 88 and 88a respectively and the sides at their rear ends have angle brackets welded thereto one of which 90 carries a nylon button 91 that slides against the drawer runway 26a as at 92 (Fig. 4) and the other lug 93 has an upwardly facing nylon button 94 that rides against the under surface of the inturned upper flange 95 of the drawer runway or track 26a. On their rear ends the drawer runners carry downwardly facing nylon buttons 96 that ride on the drawer runway track parts 32 the track parts 32 being desirably slightly depressed at their rear ends as at 96a to receive the buttons 96 and cause a slight resistance to outward movement of the drawer, and on their rear ends have brackets 97 welded thereto that carry rubber bumpers 98 which abut the flanges 41 of the rear uprights 22 when the drawer is fully closed. To normally limit outward movement of the drawer but permit its removal when desired the drawers carry on their sides release levers 99 that are pivoted at 100 on the drawer side and that have outwardly laterally offset detent lugs 101 that (see Fig. 3) abut the rubber button 31 on the lug 30 carried by the drawer runway 26. Forwardly extending release fingers 102 on the levers 99 permit the latter to be raised on their pivot 100 so that this detent lug 101 will clear the bumper 31 to permit the drawer to be removed. When the fingers 102 are not raised manually, they return by the force of gravity to the lowermost position and when the drawer is inserted the lever 99 is cammed upwardly by its surface 103 to ride over the lug 30 and then to drop behind the latter. The release handles 102 contact lugs 104 on the drawer sides to limit downward movement of the, release handles.

Further in accordance with the present invention, and as already alluded to hereinbefore, the predetermined distortable section 84 on the lower wall of the runner 83, which rides on the nylon button 33, may be bent, as by inserting a screw driver or pliers in the slot 83, either downwardly or upwardly, as may be indicated so as to increase or decrease the spacing as at 104a (Fig. 3) between two vertically related drawers. Thus, by this effective expedient, the vertical spacing between the drawers may be readily and easily adjusted both for the sake of appearance and enhanced efiiciency.

The base 15 of the cabinet riding on the casters 16 has the integral frame 20 superimposed thereon and bolted thereto as at 105, the bolts passing into the flanges of the channel forming cross members 25. i

In a modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7, two of the prefabricated frames such as 20 are secured together as at 106 and 107 (Fig. 7) and each having the upper cross members 108 and 109. As best seen in Fig. 8 the frames are secured together as by bolts 110 and nuts 111 that are received respectively in abutting channel-like projections 23 of the abutting frames 106 and 107 spaced at intervals vertically thereof, the perforations 39b in these parts being availed of for this purpose. moreover as seen in Fig. 8 the flanges 24 of abutting connected channel elements 23 jointly provide a channel for snugly receiving the front finishing strip 112 of the double tier cabinet shown in Fig. 6.

The front edges of the sides 11 and 12 are desirably chamfered inwardly as at 113 toward the drawers for enhancement of appearance as shown in said design patent applications.

While the invention is primarily adapted for the use of non-metallic sides, it is within the contemplation hereof that metallic sides might be adapted hereto within the spirit and scope hereof.

The invention is not intended to be limited to details of construction shown for purposes of exemplification and moreover it may not be essential, in all embodiments of the invention, to use all features thereof conjointly since various combinations and sub-combinations may at times be advantageously employed. Such changes including modification or additions, may be made as fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the invention.

What is here claimed is:

1. In a cabinet construction of the class described, an interior pre-formed frame, said frame comprising drawer runways, an upwardly facting anti-friction button carried by each of said runways adjacent the forward end thereof, a drawer received on said runways, said drawer having channel form runners riding on said buttons, each of the runners at its forward end having a pair of closed slots in its sides adjacent the bottom portion thereof defining a displaceable section of said bottom portion bendable upwardly or downwardly to determine the elevation of the drawer at the front of the cabinet whereby to provide adjustability for vertical spacing between drawers, and separate integral side members applied to said frame on the sides thereof respectively.

2. In a cabinet construction of the class described, having a frame and a drawer runway carried by the frame, said runway having an upwardly facing button adjacent its forward end, of a drawer received on said runway and having a channel form runner riding on said button, said runner at its forward end having a pair of closed slots in its sides adjacent the bottom portion thereof definining a displaceable section of said bottom portion bendable upwardly or downwardly to determine the elevation of the drawer at the front of the cabinet when said displaceable section rests on said button.

3. In a cabinet construction having an interior preformed metal frame and panel sides hung on said frame, that improvement therein wherein the said frame includes a channel-form upright member having a vertically extending laterally outwardly projecting interiorly channeled portion and a pair of co-planar flanges extending rearwardly and forwardly respectively from the channeled portion, vertically spaced apart drawer runways extending from front to rear of said upright member and welded to said flanges, portions of said forwardly extending flange between said drawer runways being struck inwardly toward said runways and then bent forwardly, whereby to be arranged to carry an anti-friction element slidingly engaging a drawer on the runway, a side panel having a vertically extending groove in its inner face receiving said channeled portion of the upright member, and perforations in said flanges receiving screws entering said panel between said runways.

4. In a cabinet construction embodying a pair of in terior contiguous preformed metal frames and panel sides hung on said frames, that improvement therein, wherein each said frame includes a channel-form upright member having a vertically extending laterally outwardly projecting interiorly channeled portion having a rearwardly and forwardly extending wall, walls angular to said rearwardly and forwardly extending wall, and a pair of coplanar flanges extending rearwardly and forwardly respectively from the said angular walls, vertically spaced apart drawer runways extending from front to rear of said upright members and secured to said flanges respectively, portions of said forwardly extending flange between said drawer run-ways being struck inwardly toward said runways and then bent forwardly, whereby to be arranged to carry an anti-friction element slidingly engaging a drawer on the runway, perforations in said rearwardly and forwardly extending walls, two of said upright members of the frames having their upright members channeled portions contiguous and said rearwardly and forwardly extending walls of the respective channeld portions abutted, registering perforations in said rearwardly and forwardly extending walls of contiguous channeled portions, fasteners extending through said registering perforations, and a filler member of non-metallic material snugly received between the two forwardly extending flanges of said two abutted upright members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 801,020 Kirkpatrick Oct. 3, 1905 917,870 Jefferis Apr. 13, 1909 1,025,032 Tietz Apr. 30, 1912 1,063,086 Tietz May 27, 1913 1,089,796 Schaifert Mar. 10, 1914 1,836,901 Caldwell Dec. 15, 1931 2,242,720 Froelich May 20, 1941 2,423,863 Wales July 15, 1947 2,520,506 Mankki Aug. 29, 1950 2,572,081 Wallance Oct. 23, 1951 2,620,251 Restiv-o Dec. 2, 1952 2,646,333 Abrahamson July 21, 1953 2,696,419 Wallance Dec. 7, 1954 2,822,231 Golz Feb. 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 441,801 Great Britain Jan. 27, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CETIFIQATE 0F CORRECTIN Patent Noo 2,905,519

September 2.2, 1G5? Charles 60 ONeil It is hereby certified that err or appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent re quiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5 line 28 for "factin read facing li "definining" read w defining column 6, line 3 ns 47, for

-- channeled a l, for "chenneld read.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of March 1960,

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL HQ AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Ofliccr Commissioner of Patents 

